Peta Wilson Biography And Filmography:

Tall and good-looking Australian actress and model Peta Wilson captivated endless television viewers as a sexy spy in the smash hit television series “La Femme Nikita” (1997-2001), which won her a cult following around the worlds. Following the show’s cancellation, Peta kept a relatively low profile on the television and in film, while her roles in films like “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” (2003) with Sean Connery and “Superman Returns” (2006) were outstanding, thanks to Wilson's sexy presence.

Born Peta Gia Wilson in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on Nov. 18, 1970, Wilson’s father was in the military, and relocated the family a number of times to far-reaching parts of the world, including a stay in Papua, New Guinea. It was there that Peta Wilson built her first interest in acting, though at the time it was only for entertainment’s sake, as there was no television or radio in their home. Peta Wilson was educated at an all-girls school in Brisbane, Australia, and liked sports, while her mother encouraged her to take a few etiquette lessons to balance out her schooling. The latter showed to be a good move for Peta Wilson, as a talent agent recruited her during one of those classes. Wilson enjoyed many years of success as a runway and print model, traveling broadly throughout Europe and Australia.

In 1991, Peta Wilson decided to try acting, relocating to Los Angeles to study under Arthur Mendoza, principal acting teacher at the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting West. By 1995, Peta was getting supporting roles in independent films like the crime drama “Loser” (1995). Wilson then appeared in a 1996 guest role on “Highlander” (1992-98). 

Peta Wilson was ready to move to New York to continue her acting studies when her agent talked her into an audition for the lead role in a new action program based on Luc Besson’s popular French action-drama, “La Femme Nikita” (1991). Peta Wilson got the role, and was soon shot into the pop culture stratosphere, thanks to the show’s overwhelmingly positive feedback with American audiences. “Nikita” was the top-rated program on American television for its first three seasons, and while critics could say that the key to the show’s success was its complex story lines – which had trained assassin Nikita fighting both enemy forces and evil people within her own organization – the fans clearly saw Peta Wilson’s physical beauty, athleticism, and forceful acting as central to its allure. For her role as Nikita, Peta Wilson was twice nominated for a Gemini Award (in 1998 and 1999), as well as for a Saturn Award in 1997.

Regrettably, even Wilson could not keep “Nikita” on top, when changes at the network shifted the  attention to more worthwhile programming like professional wrestling. The show was cancelled in 2000. An enormous fan protest brought “Nikita” back for a short season of eight episodes, but Peta Wilson, who had relocated to New York in 1999 with her boyfriend, director Damian Harris, was already planning her next career moves.

The 2000 film “Mercy,” directed by Harris, should have shot Wilson into the movie major leagues. A sexy erotic thriller with Ellen Barkin as a homicide detective whose investigation into a string of cruel murders brings her in contact with a kinky lesbian dominatrix (Peta Wilson), simply slumped from bad distribution. Peta Wilson did better on television in projects like Showtime’s “A Girl Thing” (2001), where she played a patient who is taken hostage with her psychiatrist by an deranged woman (Camryn Manheim), and “Joe and Max” (2002), a television movie about the contention (and friendship) between legendary boxers Joe Louis and Max Schmelling. That same year, Wilson gave birth to a son, Marlowe.

In 2003, Peta Wilson returned to theatrical features as Mina Harker, vampire huntress – a role originally slated for Monica Bellucci – in the big-screen adaptation of Alan Moore’s cult graphic novel “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.” Even with the presence of Sean Connery and some dazzeling special effects, the film failed to hit at the box office and jump-start Wilson’s career. The next year, Wilson appeared nude in a photo layout in Playboy Magazine as a Playmate, asserting in news reports that she had agreed to the nude photo shoot as a way of showing her great-grandchildren how good she had looked in her youth. It worked, and it looked like the world wanted to see Peta Wilson naked. Her nude centerfold with Playboy was one of the fastest selling issues in the history of Playboy Magazine. Peta Wilson was now an official Playboy Playmate.

Wilson made a few appearances on television over the next few years. She played a woman who sought revenge on the con man whose plan lead to her husband’s death in the 2004 television movie “False Pretenses,” and made appearances on the short-lived television series “Jonny Zero” ( 2005) and in an episode of the Australian television suspense collection, “Too Twisted” (2005). 

Action and adventure fans were pleased to see Peta Wilson show up for a small role as a NASA spokesperson in Bryan Singer’s big-screen thriller, “Superman Returns” in 2006. Wilson and her husband teamed up again in 2007 for the drama-thriller “Gardens of the Night,” about the hazards of foster care. None of the projects brought her the success of her “Nikita,” days, but Peta Wilson seemed content as a working actress with a life centered around her family. Peta wrapped her year with the drama "Beautiful" (2008).

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